He's losing money on your job. You never want a contractor who is losing money on your job. End it immediately please. He'll never sue you for the 5K.

I file liens for $5k all the time. Lower amounts as well.

I'd ask him if he wants to walk away and be done. No more $$, just done. Might be worth it to him. If you do come to an agreement get it in writing with both signatures.

If you haven’t already, start with your registrar of contractors - even if he is not licensed. They are your leverage at this point.

If he’s using subs I’d also want to find out from them if they’ve gotten paid. Don’t want them putting a lien on you.

I had a nightmare renovation on the same scale as this and I swear it took a year off my life. The contractor wasn't paying his subs either. We had to move on and hire others to finish. We probably lost $50K, maybe more. He didn't come after us for the rest of the contract amount, I don't remember how much it was, but your contractor could be different.

Maybe you could get him to finish the job by telling him he doesn't have to repaint the cabinets. I know it doesn't match and that it's his fault, but unless you want to sue him, you're going to have to pay to have them repainted anyway. May as well try to get him to come back and finish what you paid him to do.

To add to your headache, if you fire him, you'll have to close out his permits and open new ones.

I forgot to add that I'm sorry you're going through this. I know how stressful it is but it will end. It took me a long time to recover from my experience but I did and I loved my new kitchen when it was finally finished.

I don’t see how he could put a lien on me - we’ve paid for services rendered plus some. The $5K is for everything above and the re-painting of the cabinets is his fault. (Sorry about the formatting of my original post - Houzz doesn’t retain paragraphs!). Also, how could a sub put a lien on me? That’s not my obligation - it’s his. Why else would I hire a GC? Although admittedly, I’m regretting doing it. I would have been better off organizing it myself, since that’s what I end up doing anyway.

The registrar of contractors - I see a lot of sites but nothing that allows me to submit a formal complaint if it comes to that. Do I use a different search?

@cheri - do you live in Indianapolis? Maybe it’s the same one! This has been such a disappointment...the fact that people operate with such a lack of ethics is just sad.

@Jennifer Lynn I live in the Philadelphia area. He's still around. Changed his business name and has fake pictures in his portfolio. I google searched one of them and it was from an award winning achitect in Toronto! No shortage of grifters out there.

My understanding is that subs can sue you for payment. Doesn't seem fair since you didn't hire them but that's what I've been told.

Jennifer -

I have a few questions for you. I will try to provide some general infomation regarding your rights in this situation.

Disclaimer - I am using my MacBook Air to type this comment. All Apple products seem to be having various issues while using Houzz. It's very frustrating. Please ignore all typos/grammar typos. I am not going to go back through this comment and re-read prior to posting.

Also - I am not providing any legal advice. I am not licened in the state of Indiana. I am simply providing some general legal information applicable to the situation you are experiencing. To understand your full rights, please engage an attorney licensed in Indiana who practice in this area.

Do you have a written contract with your GC? If yes, doe the contract provide the following:

1. Full names and addresses of the homeowner (HO)/location of project/of the GC;

2. Date when contract was submitted to HO;

3. Date when contract will expire if not accepted by HO;

4. Approximate start and completion dates, along with any contingencies that might alter those dates;

5. A reasonably detailed description of work the GC will provide;

6. The complete cost of the home improvement project, including the terms of payment;

7. A statement that the real property GC shall not assert any insurance claim on behalf of the HO;

8. The name and address of any subcontractors or materialmen employed to work on the project;

9. Signature lines for the GC and HO

Please note, that no change order may be enforced by the GC, unless it is in wiiting and signed by both the HO and the GC.

While it is important for me to know if you have a written agreement + know if certain terms are covered, if you failed to enter into an agreement, typically, it will not prevent you from having any recourse.

Most homeowners (and users on Houzz) mistakenly believe that if you do not have a written agreement covering your project, that you have no legal recourse. This simply is not true. Most (perhaps all - I haven't exhaustively researched this area of law) jurisdictions have enacted statutes that cover home renovation/improvement performed within the state. Many of these statute's are very protective of homowner's rights.

IMPORTANT - any GC who violates the act is deemed to have committed a deceptive act. The GC may be sued by the HO, or sanctioned by the Indiana Attorney General. The penalties for committing a deceptive act include;

- injunctive relief;

- rescission of contract requiring money received by GC to be returned to the HO;

- voiding the contract, or certain provisions within it;

- payment of cost incurred by the Atty General resulting from its investigations;

- court appointment of a receiver to seize control and operation of the GC's business;

- fines;

- cost of actual damage, plus recovery of HO's attorney fees.

IMPORTANT - Has your GC used subcontractors on your project? If so, I need to know the date each subcontractor first provided supplies/materials/performed services for your project.

If you'd like to answer the questions I've asked above, I will then give you some general information as how to proceed in this matter.

But then he shuts down his company and opens it under a new name. Been there, he used photos of projects that weren’t his, destroyed my property that was not part of the renovation, and did incorrect installation. A complete nightmare, went after him with a consumer protection act and they could not do anything since the business no longer existed.

@Andrea - what jursidiction governed your situatuon? These statutes ary from state to state. Also, there are other possible actions which may be filed against a contractor. A state’s consumer protection act is only one vehicle that would be available to Jennifer. ased upon a cursory review, it appears that the home improvement statute enacted in Indiana would provide a better cource of action, along with filing a lawsuit for breach of contract against her GC.

While I am sorry to hear that the laws of the state where you reside did not provide adequate recourse, that does not necessarily mean that Jennifer will also be provided with inadequate remedies.

@dmac - I work in contract law, which will make this next statement sound ridiculous, but we don’t have a formal contract. Fortunately, the law recognizes a contract as long as it has an offer, acceptance, and consideration. We do have those in writing, so it would technically hold up. Now, I am fully aware that the law isn’t “just” and transparent like it is in the movies. People go to court all the time thinking they’re in the right and come out disappointed. I’m less inclined to engage in a lawsuit where maybe I get some money back but spend it on a lawyer, and more inclined to ensure he doesn’t do this to anyone else. The problem with these shady GCs is that there isn’t a widely known database or regulating entity that ensures consistency with commitment.

In PA, I'd contact AG Josh Shapiro's office.

Jennifer - that’s part of what I found intrguing about your state’s home improvement statutes - that the GC’s acts would be viewed as being “deceptive” and the Attorney General for Indiana may pursue sanctions against the GC, in addition to the Homeowner filing a lawsuit. Another interesting provision of Indiana’s statute re: home improvement/renovation is that a homeowner may recover his/her attorneys fees.

It seem like the statute provides a possible vehicle for the attorney general to help protect the citizens of Indiana by providing a way for the state to actually take over a GC’s actual business, if the AG determines that such action is necessary based upon information uncovered during the investigation process. If the statute is used way it’s drafted, it could be a way to weed out those GC’s acting in bad faith.

As far as whether what you have would be enough to be considered a written contract is ver fact soecific. It might be enough for a breach of contact action. As I am not licensed in Indiana, and, therefore, am not versed in the particulars of the applicable statutes, and do not know if by failing to have an underlying contract that meets all of the required elements (as set forth under the Home renovation statute), a HO will be prohibited from pursuing remedies under the statute.

I do have a Q about one of your posts above -

Someone made a comment about possible liens being attached against your home. In response, you made a comment basically dismissing the possibility of a lien being filed by a subcontractor. I am a little bit confused about your comment. Generally, in the U. S., subcontractors are permitted to file liens against the real property for services and/or material provided in the event of nonpayment by a GC. Based upon my cursory review of home improvement/renovation statutes in your jurisdiction, it appears that subcontractors do have rights re: filing mechanic’s liens in Indiana - as long as the typical notices have been provided - as in other jursidictions.

Your statement that you work in the field of contract law, led me to initially believe that you are a attorney (who is familiar with contract law and mechanic’s liens law). Was my initial assumption correct?

I’d like to help you - but if you are an actual license attorney, I will defer to you since you are licensed in the applicacble jurisdiction. If not, please let me know if you’d like suggestions re: your best recouse,

@Dmac - not an attorney - work in contract law but not in that capacity. I know enough to be wary about the fact that we didn’t enter into a formal contract with deliverables and acceptance criteria and dates, but I’m not “official”. We met with a few GCs and a company who was basically a GC/PM and charged significant overhead, but even the contract from them wouldn’t have stood up in court. They always indemnify themselves against delays and make it just vague enough that it wouldn’t matter if it was their fault (lack of planning) or not. Delays are tough to prove - does the GC really have an obligation to communicate a few times a week or is it just best practice? I’d say the latter.

Just a general comment about a GC not paying subs. When you pay the GC get a signed waiver that relieves you of any responsibility for his failure to pay subs. The waiver should include the original contract price, change orders, and the current payment made. There is a partial waiver for installment payments and a final waiver when the job is complete. Any GC worth their grain of salt will willingly sign a waiver.

I am an accountant in commercial real estate and I would never hand over a check without a waiver.

Jennifer - as an attorney with 20+ years practicing in commercial real estate/development, I have had a different experience with respect to the enforceability of provisions regarding delays. For example, the delay provision contained in my “tenant commercial lease form” has been upheld in court. Whether such provisions are enforceable depends upon the exact language used when drafted. If the leased premises isn’t delivered by an outside delivery date, the landlord gives the tenant three days rent credit (as an example) for each day the landlord is late with it’s delivery.

Also, the tenant has the option to terminate the lease by delivering a termination notice at any time prior to the actual delivery of the premise. When a landlord is buiding out the leased premises to tenant’s particular specifications, the threat that the tenant has the right to terminate at any time, plus three days rent credit, provides quite effective motivation for landlord to complete the build out ASAP.

Please note that these type of provisions would come into play if the an outside delivery date is missed by a landlord. ”Outside Delivery Date” = a date later than the anticipated delivery date as shown in the construction schedule. Also, any delays caused by a tenant would not count against a landlord + the date would be subject to delays caused by events of force majeure. “Force Majeure” is typically defined something like:

Neither party shall be held liable or responsible to the other party, nor be deemed to have breached this Agreement for failure or delay in fullfilling or performing any obligation under this Agreement when such failure or delay is caused by, or results from, causes beyond the reasonable control of such party, including, but not limited to, fire, floods, embargoes, war, acts of war, insurrections, riots, strikes, lockouts or other other labor disturbances, or acts of God; provided, however, that the party so affected shall use reasonable efforts to avoid or remove such causes of nonperfomance, and shal continue performance hereunder with reasonable dispatch whenever such causes are removed. Either party shall provide prompt written notice to the other party of any delay or failure to perform that occurs by reason of force majeure.

A similar type provision could be added to a contract covering home renovations.

The problem for homeowners is that typically the contract used (if there is one) is provided by the contractor (or builder if a new build) and is slanted towards protecting the contractor’s interests. Many times, the contract is executed in the form as originally presented - no revisions are made. This is why many jurisdictions have enacted home improvement/renovation statutes that provide protections for homeowners This is also the case with residential leases. Every state has adopted some form of the Uniform Residental Landlord and Tenant Act. Unlike in commercial situations, residential tenants rarely are able to negotiate provisions in a residental lease (an example of an exception would be when I’ve negotiated leases for my daughters and nephews/nieces in college). These types of statutes are enacted by states in order to provide some protections to its citizens.

As far as delays being tough to prove - again, if the delay provision is carefully drafted (and ambiguities avoided) it can be enforced.

If you want a GC to have an OBLIGATION to ”communicate a few times a week” - the contract has to expressly provide the how/when it happens for it to be enforceable(what does ”few” mean mean?). I highly doubt that a GC would agree to an enforceable obligation to communicate more than once per week. A reasonable request might be to add a provision that reads something like, ”GC and Homeowner shall have a status call every Monday morning at 10:00 a.m. (CST) during which GC shall notify homeowner of all changes to the Construction Schedule, if any. . .” If I represented the GC, I would place a time limit on the length of the call so that the GC doesn’t get stuck unnecessarily spending an hour on the phone (notice that I wrote ”unnecessarily” - there could be a construction delay/issue that merits a longer call in order to fully discuss an unexpected issue.

Actually, if I represented the GC, I would most likely provide that the GC is obligated to send a brief email to Homeowner each Monday in order to (i) confirm that items scheduled for completion the previous week have been actually completed, and (ii) notify Homewoner of any known scheduling changes for the upcoming week. I would only make an actual phone call necessary in the event that there is an expected material change/delay to the construction schedule (the term ”material delay” would be defined in the contract). To make it easier, there could even be a form (attached as an exhibit to the contract) that the GC fills out and sends each week. While it may seem like a little bit of an inconvenience for the GC, it would prevent multiple calls from a Homeowner each week.

Please note, that I have never represented residential contractors/homeowners in my practice - I’m just coming up with the foregoing off the top of my head based upon your statement in your last post.

My point is that I am trying to make is that I am able to basically include whatever type of provisions my client wants in a contract, and draft such provisions in a manner so they are enforceable. Anytime there is an actual monetary consequence if a party’s failure to perform under an agreement, such failure is less likely to happen.

You are correct in that a party is able to add language later in a contract that can render a previously listed obligation basically meaningless. If you engaged a GC who used a contract that is, in effect, meaningless, you need to know what statutory protections are available in your juridiction in the event there is an issue. A contract for home renovations should be fair to both parties - not be unfairly protective to the GC or the homeowner.

@dmac1108 thank you for this! Wow. Even though it wasn’t directed at me, I really appreciate you taking the time to write all this out. I learned some things. :)